The present invention relates in general to transmitting status data records from a motor vehicle to an HMI device outside the motor vehicle. Further, the invention relates to an HMI and a motor vehicle and to computer program products for the respective HMI and motor vehicle.
A self-driving motor vehicle (also known as an autonomous land vehicle) refers to automobiles or other motor vehicles that can drive, steer, and park without the influence of a human driver (i.e., highly automated or autonomous driving). If no kind of manual control by the driver is needed, the term robot car is also used. In that case, the driver's seat can remain empty, and possibly, the steering wheel, brake and accelerator pedals may not be present. The term “self-driving motor vehicle” in addition also covers trucks, agricultural tractors, and military vehicles without requiring the influence of the driver or without a driver at all.
Self-driving motor vehicles of this kind can compensate for some disadvantages with car sharing using conventional (non-self-driving) motor vehicles. In this context, car sharing is understood to mean the organized joint use of one or more motor vehicles by a plurality of users. As such, a motor vehicle can autonomously pick up a passenger at a predetermined destination and independently look for a parking space at the destination.
However, the case may also arise in which the motor vehicle—although without a passenger—is on the way to a predetermined destination in order to pick up another passenger. In other words, although the motor vehicle is empty, it is already booked for a journey.
It is therefore an object of the invention to demonstrate ways in which a motor vehicle of this kind can communicate with a potential passenger in order to exchange information about the booking status or other status of the ride-share vehicle.